The benefits of swimming have long been appreciated. Modern emphasis on physical fitness has increased the number of swimmers, both recreational and competitive. These swimmers often use various aids to increase either their enjoyment of the sport or to improve their swimming skills. These aids often take the form of added weight or added resistance or stroke-specific devices.
For this reason, the art includes many devices, such as wrist weights, kickboards, leg donuts, and the like, that are intended for use by swimmers to increase their swimming skills. Even with number of swimming accessories known in the art, there is still room for further improvement.
Any device used to improve swimming skills should not be too difficult or strenuous to use. If it is, it will not enjoy wide commercial acceptance. Still further, if the device is too strenuous, it may create a danger of injury due to overtaxing the user's body.
Therefore, there is a need for a swimming skill improvement device that can be used by swimmers of all skill levels and which will improve the skill of the user without too much stress being placed on the swimmer's muscles or joints.
Still further, a useful swimming aid should encourage a proper stroke. Many known swimming aides may assist one portion of the overall stroke, such as the arm movement, while changing another portion of the stroke, such as body position, in an adverse manner. Therefore, there is a need for a swimming aid that will assist the swimmer in developing his or her skills, yet will not cause other portions of the swimming stroke to change in an adverse manner.
Still further, any swimming aid should not be susceptible to becoming loose or deteriorating after long periods of use. Some swimming aids tend to loosen or deteriorate after time due to the harsh effects of the water, especially heavily chlorinated water. Therefore, there is a need for a swimming aid that can be used for long periods of time without deterioration or degradation.
Still further, the inventor recognizes that some swimming aids will be used in situations for which they may not be designed. An example of such misuse may occur when a swimmer dives into a pool with a kickboard, or with pull buoys on. Therefore, any swimming aid should not endanger a user even if misused. Consequently, there is a need for a swimming aid that can be misused without unduly endangering the user.
The inventor also notes that competitive or recreational swimming is only a small portion of the overall field of aquatic-related sports. SCUBA, snorkeling, surfing and the like are also extremely popular activities. These activities, like the swimming activities discussed above, have the same constraints and requirements for perfecting proper stroke technique. Therefore, there is a need for a device that can be used by swimmers as well as others engaged in various aquatic sports to improve their techniques without adversely affecting other portions of their strokes or placing too much stress on their bodies.
The inventor also notes that even skydivers require practice to develop proper techniques.
Still further, many people who use gloves of this sort, wear them while using their hands for purposes other than swimming. For example, a SCUBA diver may wish to examine a specimen that he or she discovers, or a swimmer may wish to grasp an object of some sort. For this reason, many gloves that are used in swimming are unpopular because these gloves inhibit the grasping of objects when the user is wearing the glove. Even if a user could grasp an object, the glove may be wet and slippery thereby increasing the possibility of dropping a grasped object. Still further, the glove should be flexible enough to permit a wearer to easily manipulate his or her hand. Heretofore, some gloves were not flexible enough to permit such action and thus were not commercially acceptable. Therefore, there is a need for a swimming glove that facilitates grasping and securely holding objects while wearing the glove.
Still further, many swimmers, especially SCUBA divers, often wish to carry objects, such as knives, depth meters, or the like, with them. Some of these objects may be carried during swimming, while others, such as a watch, may be useful at other times. However, the elements used to carry these objects should not be cumbersome or overly-restrictive during swimming. Therefore, there is a need for a glove that can be worn during swimming and can accommodate accessories that may be useful to a swimmer without being overly cumbersome or restrictive.
It is noted that while the present invention will be disclosed in conjunction with swimming, it is to be understood that it is equally applicable to use by a person moving through any type of fluid where proper hand movements should be developed. Thus, it is to be understood that the disclosure of swimming is merely for convenience and is the best mode, but is not to be taken as limiting the scope and coverage of this disclosure to swimming alone.